Bone Tissue Regeneration in the Oral and Maxillofacial Region: A Review on the Application of Stem Cells and New Strategies to Improve Vascularization

Figure 2

Overview of the three different vascularization strategies and their clinical results. First, a graft is implanted (a) which solely depends on the vascularization, angiogenesis, and vasculogenesis, from the host towards the graft (b). This results in insufficient vascularization of the graft (c). Second, a prevascularized graft is implanted in the host tissue (d). A high number of preformed microvessels have a suboptimal lifespan (e), resulting in less microvessels for vascularization from the graft towards the host (f). Third, microvascular fragments in the graft (g) develop rapidly into microvessels when implanted in the host tissue (h). They contribute to vascularization (angiogenesis and vasculogenesis) from the graft towards the host, which results in enhanced vascularization. Vascularization starts from two directions, i.e., from the graft and from the host tissue (i).